Walking My Second Path in Life: Volume 3

By Otaku de Neet and Kurodeko

Plucky Princess Fie escaped a life of social exile as King Roy’s unwanted second bride to walk her second path in life as a squire for the Royal Knights. However, Fie’s chaotic, fun-filled days as a squire are numbered when the king’s chancellor happens to recognize her and reveals her true identity. WIll this be Fie's chance to finally meet her lawfully wedded husband for (maybe) the first time? But wait, what will he think about her having a boyfriend? In the final volume of Walking My Second Path in Life, Fie faces her biggest misadventure yet. Don’t worry, it’s nothing she can’t handle… Right?

• Language: English
• Publisher: J-Novel Club
• Release date: Aug 15, 2022
• ISBN: 9781718302600

Book preview

Chapter 25 — The Circus Is Coming to Town!

Six months after the East—North Interdormitory Duel, Fie and her friends began their second year of squire training.

Fie hummed a cheerful tune to herself as she walked down the capital’s main street. The pouring rain had let up for the time being, leaving a clear, blue sky shining over Wienne. A refreshing breeze caressed her cheek, putting her in a wonderfully good mood. She had set out on her usual errands today, but decided to take the long way around in order to enjoy the especially fine weather.

As she approached the riverbank, she smelled the wonderful aroma of grilled chicken with sauces and herbs. There stood a stall selling herbed chicken skewers. Fie was immediately captivated. The stall owner called out to her, Well, come on now, lad. What say you try one? They’re fresh off the grill and absolutely delicious!

Fie’s stomach grumbled in response. She thought to herself, I should get some for the others too. I’ll take fifteen, please, she said.

Right you are.

That meant two apiece for Queen, Gormus, Slad, Remie, and Gees, making a total of ten. As for the other five, two were for Fie to munch on during her walk, two more to eat with the others. There was no point in stopping at fourteen skewers though, Fie reasoned, so she bought one more to make it a round fifteen. Obviously, it was not simply that she wished to eat another one herself.

She giggled to herself as she lifted one out of its paper wrapping. The fat, melting in the heat of the sun’s rays, glittered in an utterly mouthwatering fashion. Just as she made to pop it in her mouth and swallow it all in one gulp, a familiar voice called out behind her, Hey, don’t you know it’s bad manners to eat while walking?

Fie immediately recognized the voice and grinned. You do it too, Crow, she pointed out. Remember when you were on patrol the other day?

I had no time to sit down and eat, so what else was I supposed to do? I take my guard duty seriously for the good of the city’s public security, Crow justified with a haughty air.

Fie glared at him. That’s a big fat lie. All you do is waste all your time chasing after every cute girl who crosses your path.

Crow crossed his arms and nodded twice. When nothing else is amiss, I do go around making polite inquiries to citizens, yes, he posited innocently. It’s not my fault everyone misunderstands this noble act. We lady-killers have it so hard.

This did nothing to dissuade Fie from her glare. She absolutely did not trust Crow’s relations with women and never had. Even so, she wasn’t really picking a fight with him. This fell more into the category of playful teasing.

Cutting off Fie before she could raise another objection, Crow looked at the skewer in her hand and said, But never mind all that. That chicken looks great. Say, how about sharing one with your favorite old-timer, huh?

Didn’t you say it was bad manners to eat while walking?

And I stand by that, but I never said you shouldn’t do it. That, too, was only another part of their usual teasing.

Fie grumbled to herself. Sure, she talked back to Crow like this all the time, but she was also aware that Crow was always looking out for her. So be it, she thought, as she rationed out one of her five skewers to Crow. It caused her no end of sorrow to part with one when she had planned on eating the full set. She passed it to him with a bitter expression, and Crow, who had only asked for it in jest, looked guilty.

Don’t be like that, he told her. On your next day off, I’ll take you out to eat, okay?

That restored Fie’s spirits somewhat.

Crow had completely forgotten that she had such an attachment to her food. It wasn’t that Fie was particularly stingy; in fact, she was generous when it came to sharing. However, she clung to her own food like nobody’s business.

She was the same way a year ago too, Crow realized. He hadn’t thought about that in a long time, but now he remembered how famished she had looked when they first met. Had that experience with near starvation caused this possessiveness around food? Compared to back then, Fie looked healthier, with rounder cheeks and a softness to her that, oddly, couldn’t be described as chubbiness. At any rate, she was healthy, and that was all that mattered.

Suddenly struck by this odd burst of sentimentality, Crow popped the skewer into his mouth and patted Fie’s head affectionately.

Fie tilted her head in confusion. Where did that come from? She had expected another one of Crow’s jokes. Still, she enjoyed the affection, so she put up with it for now.

Let’s go back to the castle, Crow said.

Sure, she agreed and fell into step next to Crow.

It was funny, he realized. Somewhere along the way, it seemed she had grown fond of him. Walking alongside her, Crow started to think that maybe he should look after her a little bit better.

***

Here stood the north dorm, home to many of the castle’s squires. When Fie was called away by their instructor Heslow, Queen was left behind and decided to sit in on a conversation with his fellow squires. The other squires were now in their second year of training as well, but none of the boys had changed all that much since they were first-years. Neither had their conversations, which once again consisted of utterly trivial matters.

Listen, I’m telling you, Miranda is obviously the best, said one boy.

No way, another retorted. Emer’s by far the cutest!

Today’s topic of conversation was a new café called Ambiabière, which had recently opened up shop in the capital. As part of a rebranding after an older café went out of business, Ambiabière had hired pretty girls to dress as maids and serve as the waitstaff. It was an enormous hit with a large number of the capital’s menfolk. Now the squires were engaged in a passionate argument over which serving girl was the best.

Miranda’s the most beautiful girl in the whole city! the first boy insisted.

Oh yeah? Well, Emer’s the most beautiful girl in the whole country! the second fired back. The boys became more and more animated as they argued.

You’re crazy! boy one exclaimed. Fine, let’s settle this with a duel!

Fine by me! Bring it on!

Hold it, hold it, a third boy interrupted. Dueling’s not allowed. Remember? That’s an infringement of the Squires’ Rules and Prohibitions, Squirely Made, Squirely Upheld, and For Our Own Squirely Good, Article 58: ‘Dueling about Ambiabière never ends and is therefore prohibited’! And, of course, you shouldn’t hurt each other over it either!

Halfway through their first year of training, the boys had taken it upon themselves to create a set of rules and prohibitions. This had been born from a number of problems the north dorm squires had caused, each for their own various reasons, but the rules’ two main goals were to avoid annoying each other and to avoid being told off by Heslow. Once a month, the squires held a meeting to introduce bills, dispute the contents of them, and pass them into law by majority vote. At this point in time, their list of laws already numbered over two hundred.

Who cares? the first boy roared. I’ll take the penalty! The lovely Miranda is worth any penalty!

That’s right! cried the second boy. What’s a little penalty anyway? No punishment will stop my love for the fair Emer!

These laws were, by and large, self-enforced, but as not every squire attended the meetings, the boys (even those who’d voted on the law in the first place) sometimes forgot the huge number of laws they had set down.

Er, let’s see, the third boy muttered as he leafed through the records hung up on the dorm wall. Ah, it says here that the punishment is spending three days with Heath.

"People say that’s even worse than the worst punishment we ever came up with, and that was the infamous ‘crabs on the banks of the Moon River’ punishment. And this is just a duel, isn’t it? I mean, they’re not exactly everyday occurrences. Why is the punishment so steep?"

Because at one point, they were happening far too often, the boy near the rule sheet explained. We had over ten a day at times. And that’s obnoxious, of course, so we instituted this penalty. Naturally, we saw a sharp drop in the number of duels right after that. Even the boys who had loudly insisted they would have nothing to do with the rules turned pale when they heard the penalty.

One boy gulped. The other suggested, M-Maybe we should lay off on dueling for now.

Y-Yeah, I agree...

Queen tilted his head in confusion. How was spending time with Heath a bad thing? He, on the contrary, very much enjoyed it. But of course he didn’t say this out loud, and the conversation continued without his input. Even with dueling no longer an option, the boys were still highly passionate about their preferred waitresses and picked up the argument from where they left off. Now there were even new supporters on each side.

Miranda always smiles at me after she brings me my tea! I’d drink a million cups if it meant I got to see that smile! one of the Miranda fans yelled.

Emer’s great at drawing pictures in ketchup on the omelets! an Emer fan countered. And guess what? When you order a large, she always draws you a heart! I’m telling you, she loves us! (Rather than this being excellent customer service, Queen had a hunch this was more like customer exploitation than anything else.)

Just then, a new challenger emerged with a sigh and a smirk. Holding his palms upward and shaking his head in a gesture of disgust, he said, My goodness. You boys really don’t know a thing.

This only served to enrage the arguing boys.

Oh yeah? What’re you being so smug about? asked one.

"Who’s your favorite?!" challenged another.

You’ve all overlooked something terribly important, the new boy said. Ambiabière is so popular because you can be waited upon by pretty maids who would never give you the time of day otherwise. But these girls aren’t real maids. And we can meet the real thing. So why be so hung up on fake maidservants?

You do have a point... one of the boys conceded with a frown.

Another boy, who looked just as downcast as all the rest, muttered, But...all the real maids we know never treat us nicely...

As the maids rose in seniority, they often entered into roles at the heart of the palace, which meant that many of the maidservants working near the dorms were around the same age as the squires. But being at that awkward age as they were, it was difficult for the squires to overcome this awkwardness and befriend the maids. Additionally, the maids were often warned away from the north dorm with rumors that it was full of problem children, which only made it harder for the boys to get the opportunity to actually talk with them. Granted, this difficulty wasn’t unique to the north dorm; the boys figured that the teenagers in the other dorms had similar struggles due to the nature of puberty.

Suddenly, the topic of conversation switched to Queen. You have it lucky, one of the boys told him. The maids really like you. Queen was, of course, the exception to those rumors about the north dorm. His popularity with girls stemmed from his good manners, great figure, and unique good looks. As testament to this, during the latter half of his first year of training, several girls had admitted to him they had crushes on him.

There were also Remie, Gees, and Persil from over in the east dorm. Together, these four made up the bulk of a small group of good-looking squires who refused to join in on the general skirt-chasing the others—learning by example from a particularly indecent portion of the knights—practiced. The east dorm also hosted both the self-proclaimed genius Rigel and his friend Luka, who both met the criteria, but their distinctive personalities placed them in another camp altogether.

Queen flushed and mumbled, I’m not really interested, betraying his innocence.

"Sure, you say that, but you have to be interested in someone," the first boy said.

Queen shook his head twice. The boy sighed. All your popularity is going to waste...

The boy next to him chimed in. C’mon, you should start caring about girls more, Queen!

Wait, no, that’s a bad idea, the first boy said. He’ll just increase the competition!

"How come Queen doesn’t care for girls but is popular anyway, but when we want to get girls, they all think we’re losers?"

It’s bizarre...utterly bizarre...

Queen was at a loss as well. His eyebrows bunched in a worried frown. Presently, Queen was dating the girl he liked the most, but this was a secret to everyone around him. He was perfectly happy with his girlfriend; the thought of going after someone else and cheating on her was absurd. He knew that if he did and Fie were to break up with him, he would regret it for the rest of his life. That was why he truly was not interested in other girls—Fie was the only one for him.

The topic of conversation then suddenly leaped to this aforementioned girlfriend.

You know what’s bizarre? one of the other boys put in. Heath. I don’t get at all why the maids are all over him either!

Right! He does just as many stupid things as we do, doesn’t he?!

Heath was a girl who lived in the north dorm along with Queen and the others, disguised as a boy so she could train to be a squire. Her real identity was Fie, a princess of Daeman and the second wife of King Roy of Orstoll. Now if anyone was a problem child in this group, it was Fie. She was the biggest troublemaker in the dorm and had a habit of sticking her nose into all sorts of scuffles. Hating to be left out of anything, she had tagged along with some of the other boys during their previous attempts at flirting and ended up right in the thick of that too. It would have come as a shock to no one if the maids had ignored her, but oddly enough, they didn’t seem to mind her. They still chastised Fie from time to time, but Fie always managed to make up with them in short order. The maids considered her to be a cute but rambunctious scamp, which gave her a unique position with them. The boys could not make heads or tails of what Fie was doing differently.

Queen, one of the boys raged, has Heath ever told you his secret trick for getting girls to like him?!

Yeah! another boy cried. It makes no sense that he’s as popular as he is. He must have some kind of trick!

Absolutely! He’s using some dirty rotten trick! Queen, you go tell him we said that!

The boys pressed in on Queen. Another joined the fray, yelling, Time for the dog to become a wolf!

Queen’s eyebrows bunched together in a worried frown, and he shook his head. By his reckoning, Fie’s luck with the maids was nothing more than her ability to sympathize with them as a fellow girl and act accordingly. Sure, her enthusiasm made her go a bit overboard at times, but she was a lovely person overall. Even if you were mad at her, you still wanted to be her friend. I don’t want to be like Sir Crow or anything, she had admitted once, but it would be kind of nice to be popular. (As her boyfriend, Queen couldn’t help but feel a sense of impending doom at those words.) So Heath’s—or Fie’s, rather—popularity with the maids was no trick at all.

And speak of the devil, just then Fie walked in, saw the boys gathered around, and ran over, thinking something interesting was going on. Hey guys, I’m back! she called. What are you all up to? Is it fun? It’s something fun, isn’t it?

Oh, it’s nothing, one of her classmates responded.

And even if it was something, it has nothing to do with you, another boy added. Their jealousy and pettiness over the imbalance of Fie’s interactions with the maids made them less than welcoming of the supposedly guilty party.

Fie pouted. What’s your problem? Hmph, whatever! she snapped. C’mon, Queen, let’s go! Peeved at being left out, she flounced off back to his room.

Okay, Queen said as he scrambled after her.

The boys glared in envy at their retreating figures. Serves him right, that dirty trickster, one muttered.

And the trickster’s dog, another boy added.

Too bad for the other boys that the dirty trickster and the dog had the exact kind of relationship the rest of them so sorely longed for.

Once they were alone, Fie passed two of the chicken skewers to Queen. Here’s yours, she said.

Thanks.

I’m going to go find Gormus, Remie, and the rest of the guys to give them their shares, okay?

Sure. I’ll see you when you get back. Queen accepted this readily enough and watched her go until she was out of sight. After all, once she got back, he knew they would be able to spend some quality alone time together.

In terms of how far along Fie and Queen were in a dating sense, they had (surprisingly) advanced to the kissing stage. At five months of dating, whether or not this moving quickly or slowly was a matter of individual interpretation, but Queen saw it as an enormous step in the right direction.

With nothing to do until Fie came back, Queen started reflecting on their first kiss. It had happened on a day three months after they first began dating, when Fie and Queen were hanging out in Queen’s room like usual. Fie was reading a book she had borrowed from somewhere as Queen read over her shoulder, periodically sneaking little glances at Fie as he did so. Really, this secret relationship of theirs didn’t have a lot of action in it, but the simple fact that he could date Fie and spend time with her like this made Queen happy anyway. This was enough for him.

Just as he thought that, Fie looked up and said, Hey, Queen.

Hmm? Queen responded around a mouthful of tea. Had he a tail, he would have wagged it with all his might in sheer excitement at being spoken to.

Then Fie said, You know, I’ve heard that you’re supposed to kiss your boyfriend once you’ve been going out with him for three months.

Queen choked on the tea, coughing violently.

Are you okay? Fie asked.

Queen nodded wildly.

As if to kick the man when he was already down, Fie tilted her head to one side and asked, So, do you want to give it a shot?

She’d as good as walloped him across the face with a hammer. Kissing was a sensitive issue for Queen. Naturally, he wanted to tell her yes, and of course refusing was completely out of question. But he didn’t want to be pressured into it, and, more importantly, the mere thought of it sent his heart racing at an unbearable pace. Kissing Fie was one of his future goals, certainly, but on the same level as becoming a splendid knight, inheriting the family home from his parents, and supporting the household. He had never dreamed this would happen so soon! And a kiss right now? On an ordinary day while they were just hanging out together? Queen’s brain revved in anxious circles. If he’d had that tail, it would have been drooping between his legs right then.

Wh-Where did you hear that from? he stuttered. This wasn’t a yes or a no but more of a procrastination device. Pathetic, yes, but Queen was doing his best. At this point, it was all he could do to keep the conversation going.

Fie, completely unfazed, explained, That’s what the book says, as she showed Queen the cover of the book they were reading. Romance for Dummies: Tired of Your Love Life Lagging Behind Everyone Else’s? Then Do We Have the Guidebook for You! screamed the book cover in large letters.

Queen’s thoughts raced. Leave me alone! Romance is different for everyone! I mean, what does a book know about my love life anyway? I mean— But not a single word came out of his mouth. Despite the tea he had just swallowed, his throat was as dry as a bone.

Fie came up to his side. Here, let’s give it a try, she said. She closed her eyes and tilted her head up towards him.

That’s easy for her to say! Queen thought, the sheer sight of Fie’s face in such close proximity making him flush a bright scarlet.

Her skin was luminescent, her eyelashes so faint. Hers was the cutest, most adorable face in all the world to Queen. And those lovely, pert, pale pink lips...

The sight of those lips in particular was a shock to his system. She—she’s going to kiss me... The realization caused his entire body to break out in a nervous sweat.

As Queen stared, flabbergasted, Fie opened her bright blue eyes and blinked in surprise. She blinked several more times, making sure of how close they were before closing her eyes again. Come on, she urged.

Easy for her to say! Queen thought again. It was like Queen’s wildest dreams were coming true; at the same time, it was like he was in hell. His heart was pounding so fast, his cheeks were turning so red, and his embarrassment was shooting so far through the roof that he felt like he was going to die. He did not understand how they had ended up in this position.

But...

At the same time, his emotions were screaming, Are you sure? Can I really?! He very clearly wanted to try this. He took a huge gulp, straightened his spine without knowing why he was doing so, and slowly inched towards Fie. He moved closer to her face, so much paler than his own. As the distance between them shrunk, his heart thundered louder and louder.

Just as their faces were about to meet, he realized his nose was in danger of hitting hers and quickly tilted his head. Despite this being his first time at...well, just about every aspect of this scenario, he could tell this was a problem (perhaps out of pure instinct or perhaps because he had acted out this scenario in his head already). At any rate, with this first possible blunder avoided, he set his sights on his target once more and then jolted in surprise. She was so close! Her face was almost right under his nose. Well, not almost, Queen realized, as in his eagerness he had somewhat overshot and ended up a hair’s breadth away from her. It was the first time he had ever been this close to her. Unable to stand being so near to her, he squeezed his eyes shut. Then, he realized this was the proper way to kiss someone.

And then he began to panic. Now how was he supposed to know where to aim? How in the world did everyone else manage to figure this out? Yet there was no one around to tell him, as